First Elder had knelt on the altar for seven days and seven nights. He looked much older and haggard now. There was even white hair on his temples.
However, his expression was as stern as ever. He looked around at everyone. When his gaze swept over Huanhuan, he involuntarily paused.
Huanhuan also noticed his gaze.
She met his gaze with a composed expression that was neither servile nor overbearing.
First Elder quickly retracted his gaze and said expressionlessly, “I’m sure everyone knows about the destruction of the Divine Wood City. Our temple and the King of Beasts have discussed and reached a consensus. We’ve decided to choose one of the six low-level beast cities and upgrade it to a medium-level beast city.”
He paused and saw the anticipation on the faces of the people below before continuing.
“I called everyone here today to tell you the specific rules of the selection. The prophet has given you six missions. You need to clear a small competition that’ll decide the ranking of the missions you choose based on the results of the competition. In order not to ruin the harmony, you only need to talk in this competition.”
First Elder got someone to open the big wooden box in the square. It was filled with all kinds of plants.
“Every beast city will send a representative to name the herbs you know from this box. You’ll be ranked according to the number of herbs you know. The more herbs you know, the higher your ranking will be.”
Ordinary beasts generally did not recognize herbs. Only witch doctors and envoys knew how to distinguish herbs.
The other five beast cities sent their best witch doctors to participate in the competition.
Shuang Yun looked at Huanhuan. “You can do it, right?”
Huanhuan puffed out her chest. “Don’t worry, I promise to get first place for you!”
Shuang Yun, Bai Di, and Xue Ling were very confident in her knowledge.
When Huanhuan walked out, many beasts present looked at her in surprise. They had never seen a female witch doctor before.
The witch doctor of Blue Crystal City was called Jiang Bo. As the greatest opponent in this competition to win the upgrade to a middle-level beast city, he started mocking Huanhuan, who was the representative of the Rock Wolf Tribe, when he saw her.
“Your Rock Wolf Tribe are lacking beasts, huh? You actually sent a female out. Are you taking the initiative to admit defeat?!”
Huanhuan glanced at him. “Are you looking down on females?”
“I’m not looking down on females. It’s just that females should be at home enjoying life. You’re a female who came out to show your face. Are the male beasts of the Rock Wolf Tribe that useless that they need a female’s protection?”
Jiang Bo’s words provoked the anger of the Rock Wolf Tribe.
The last thing a male beast could tolerate was being questioned about his ability to protect his female.
Huanhuan sneered. “I’m enough to deal with a male beast like you who only knows how to talk.”
Jiang Bo frowned. “How arrogant!”
“Don’t be angry. I’m just telling the truth.”
“You!”
First Elder finally interrupted their argument. “Don’t waste time. Each city’s representatives will start selecting the herbs they know.”
Jiang Bo straightened his back and stopped bickering with Huanhuan. The other five witch doctors stopped watching the commotion and immediately surrounded the wooden box where they could pick the herbs from.
It was unknown if they did it on purpose, but as soon as Huanhuan approached the wooden box, the five of them squeezed her out.
She tried to squeeze in again, but every time she approached the wooden box, she was blocked by the five guys. She couldn’t even touch the side of the box.
These five guys actually joined forces to bully her!
Huanhuan looked at First Elder. As a notary, he should have stepped forward to warn the five unruly witch doctors. However, he actually closed his eyes and pretended not to see anything.
Huanhuan gritted her teeth in anger.
Kneeling for seven days was already a light punishment for this old fellow. If she had known this would happen, she would have asked the prophet to make him kneel for a year and a half!
Not far away, Shuang Yun saw Huanhuan being bullied and was about to help when Bai Di stopped him.
Bai Di said, “You can’t go over now. It’s against the rules.”
“Then are we going to watch Huanhuan be bullied?!”
Xue Ling smiled. “Don’t worry, Huanhuan is smart. She won’t be bullied like this.”
Huanhuan complained to First Elder, “The five of them won’t let me get close to the box. I can’t choose the herbs.”
Hearing her angry voice, First Elder opened his eyes and looked at her casually. “The rules of the competition don’t say that others have to make way for you. If you can’t touch the box, you can only blame yourself for being useless.”
Huanhuan couldn’t help but ask, “Are your knees okay?”
“Huh?”
“You kneeled for so long, so I’m just wondering if your knees are hurt beyond recognition.”
First Elder: “…”
He knew that this little female was sharp-tongued. In front of everyone, he could not argue with her. He closed his eyes again and continued to pretend to sleep.
Huanhuan did not expect him to uphold justice anyway. Seeing him like this, she was not too disappointed.
She called out, “Little Green.”
Five vines immediately shot out of the green crystal bead and wrapped around the five witch doctors when they were caught off guard.
The five witch doctors struggled with all their might. The surface of the vines was covered in poisonous thorns. The harder they struggled, the deeper the poisonous thorns pierced. In the blink of an eye, their clothes were torn and they were even bleeding.
Jiang Bo shouted angrily, “What are you doing?!”
Huanhuan smiled innocently. “First Elder thinks that I’m useless and can’t even touch the box. I have no choice but to show my ability so that you’ll make way for me.”
“What kind of skill is this? This is a sneak attack!”
Huanhuan tilted her head. “Are you the only ones allowed to bully me with numbers?”
Jiang Bo could not argue with her, so he could only look for First Elder to help uphold justice.
First Elder, who had pretended not to see anything just now, finally spoke to maintain order in the competition, “Lin Huanhuan, everyone has to compete fairly. Don’t cause trouble. Let them go.”
“Alright, I’ll let them go now.” Huanhuan agreed very readily.
She said to Little Green, “Throw these five guys far away.”
The vine swung hard, sending the five witch doctors flying!
The five witch doctors made a beautiful arc in the air and fell heavily to the ground. They cried out in pain.
These witch doctors were proud of their status. No matter where they went, they would be treated with respect. They were already used to being served. Each of them was more precious than the last. Now that they were taught a lesson by Huanhuan, they did not even have the ability to retaliate.
What was worse was that the other party was a petite female. Even if the five of them wanted to teach her a lesson, they would be too embarrassed to take revenge on Lin Huanhuan in front of so many people.
In the end, they could only grit their teeth and swallow their anger.
